The Minnesota Vikings are open to trade Jonathan Greenard

It was reported earlier in the week that the Minnesota Vikings were willing to trade Pro Bowl edge rusher Jonathan Greenard. The team would like to keep Greenard in Minnesota, but he is seeking a market adjustment on his contract, and the Vikings already have salary cap issues they are trying to work through.

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Jonathan Greenard arrived in Minnesota for the 2024 season to replace edge rusher Danielle Hunter, who the Vikings knew they were losing in free agency. It ended up being an edge rusher free agent swap between the Vikings and Houston Texans. Since joining the team, Greenard has racked up 15 sacks in 29 games. Although 12 of those sacks occurred in the 2024 season, the stud edge rusher still managed a pass rush rate of 13.5% in 2025, ranking 7th in the NFL.

Greenard's impact goes beyond his play on the field for the Minnesota Vikings. He was named a captain in 2025 and has been a vocal leader for this team during the two seasons he has been here. It would hurt to lose such a key piece of the locker room, but at what price would the blow be lessened?

What can the Vikings get for Jonathan Greenard?

It has been reported that “half of the league” has made calls about the Pro Bowl edge rusher in Minnesota, which would lead one to believe he is going to be in high demand around the league. Corbin Smith on X reported that “a second-rounder and a Day 3 pick is the sweet spot” right now, but if the demand keeps rising, it is possible the Vikings could get a first-rounder in return.

One of the most important aspects of this is whether the Vikings can make it through free agency and to the start of the draft with his contract still on the books to gain more interest. Making it to the NFL Draft after teams miss out on key edge rusher free agents could boost Greenard’s value massively and add to his trade haul. A pre-draft or draft-day trade could be a real possibility if Minnesota can hold onto his contract while also making the free agent moves they want to make in the meantime.

The Minnesota Vikings should trade Greenard

To start, Jonathan Greenard is a fantastic player and a fan favorite of ours over the last two seasons. With that being said, we have thought the Vikings should trade him for quite some time now simply due to the fact that he is in the way of Dallas Turner becoming something great and still has trade value you need to capitalize on now before he goes into his final contract year.

Any team that trades for Greenard will take on $19M of his contract in each of the next two seasons, which ranks 18th among edge rushers in 2026. The Vikings would also save $12.5M in 2026 by moving him while taking on $9.9M in dead cap.

The direction the Minnesota Vikings are going in since the firing of GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah makes total sense. Since the firing, they have announced they will be releasing aging veterans Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave after only spending one season with the team. This opens up opportunity for the younger guys on the interior defensive line to shine — Jalen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez, and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins.

Sending Greenard to another team for a “haul” of draft picks would fit this trend extremely well and, quite frankly, makes sense for the future of the team. If the Vikings receive a first-round draft pick or a second-round pick paired with a third- or fourth-rounder, they would have the ability to draft young players on rookie contracts while also starting their young 2024 first-round draft choice, Dallas Turner, and still reap the benefits of his rookie contract.

Dallas Turner being a backup or rotational edge rusher going into Year 3 as a former first-round pick would be a shame. Turner saw huge improvements last season, boosting his sack total from 3.0 in his rookie season to 8.0 in his second year. He also recorded 11 TFLs, 4 forced fumbles, a 15.1% pass rush win rate, 42 QB pressures, and 27 QB hurries. He did all of this in 10 starts for the team, mostly coming from injuries to Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard throughout the year. These are impressive stats for a player in his second season, especially after a pretty underwhelming rookie year.

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